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Buenos Aires Weighs an Anti-Conversion Practices Bill Built Around Prevention
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Commentary
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Publish Date
October 7, 2026
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A bill filed in the Legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires last month would prohibit conversion practices across the city. It would forbid treatments of any kind aimed at correcting or suppressing a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression; procedures that degrade or humiliate people on those grounds; and psychiatric or medical diagnoses based solely on them.
Around that prohibition, it would build prevention, survivor support, and consumer protection, rather than resting on punishment alone. Argentina has no national law that explicitly addresses these practices. The closest is the National Mental Health Law, which prohibits diagnoses based solely on sexual orientation or gender identity.
What harm do conversion practices cause?
The harm these practices cause is well documented, including in Argentina. A 2024 report by the Association of Diverse Families of Argentina, produced with Outright International's support, gathered the experiences of LGBTIQ people across the country who had been through them. Survivors described guilt, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation that persisted long after the practices ended. Survivors also described a distrust of mental health professionals that made it harder to seek care afterward.
How would the bill prevent conversion practices?
The Buenos Aires bill stands out most for its emphasis on prevention. It would require the city government to run periodic public campaigns on what conversion practices are, the forms they take, and the harm they cause. The city would also have to publicize the rights of those affected and where they can seek support or file a complaint. Outright's policy brief on conversion practices, published in October 2025, is cited in the bill's rationale. The brief identifies public messaging of this kind as one way to address the root causes of these practices, alongside antidiscrimination protections and affirming healthcare.
What support would survivors receive?
The bill directly addresses the needs of survivors. The city would have to guarantee them access to public mental health services and provide the information and technical support they need to bring a complaint, anonymously if they prefer. As Outright's brief argues, survivors should be able to reach support regardless of whether what was done to them meets the threshold of a criminal or civil offense. Cases involving children would go to the city's child protection bodies, which would keep the response oriented toward the child rather than toward punishing a family.
What penalties would the bill set?
The bill would also classify any offer or promotion that presents conversion practices as a cure, or as effective in changing a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, as deceptive advertising under national consumer protection law. It would also amend the city's Contraventions Code, which covers minor offenses, to penalize anyone who carries out, offers, or promotes these practices, with harsher penalties for health professionals, including closure of the establishment and suspension of their license.
What would not be covered by the bill?
The text also spells out what the prohibition does not cover: gender-affirming care, support for someone going through a transition, educational programs, and religious, cultural, or philosophical expression that involves no manipulation, coercion, or pressure. Some religious and anti-trans groups have tried to use conversion practices legislation to undermine the rights of trans people, arguing that gender-affirming care is itself a form of conversion. A loosely drafted ban could be turned against the people it was written to protect.
At Outright, we hope the Legislature gives the bill an informed and empathetic debate, one that follows the evidence, is grounded in international human rights law, and listens to survivors. Buenos Aires has the chance to set a standard that other cities in Latin America can follow. Conversion practices cause real harm and have no place in any health system, place of worship, or family that claims to protect the people in its care.
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